My son filed a 1040EZ form for his 2018 taxes. Can I still claim him as a dependent for his college expenses in 2018 if I itemized my return?

[xmasbaby0]

Your son filed a Form 1040 for 2018 since there are no more 1040EZ forms as of 2018 returns and beyond.  You do not say how old he is or if he is a full-time student for 2019.  Whether you itemize or not has no relevance to whether you claim him as a dependent.

If your son is under the age of 24 and has been a full-time student for 2019 he can most likely be claimed as your qualifiying child dependent, no matter how much he earned himself.  Even if he lived away at school, living at school is a "temporary absence" so you can say he lived with you.  When/if he files his own tax return he MUST say on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return.   The education credits go on YOUR tax return if he is your dependent.

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, fiance (etc.) as a dependent on your 2018 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

• They are related to you.

• They cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else.

• They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or   Mexican resident.

• They are not filing a joint return with their spouse.

• They are under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).

• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children

  •      They live with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).

Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).

• They cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else.

• They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.

• They are not filing a joint return with their spouse.

• They lived with you the entire year.

• They made less than $4,150 in 2018

• You provided more than half of their financial support. More info

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them.

Related Information:

• Does a dependent have to live with me?

• What does "financially support another person" mean?

• Can I claim a newborn baby?

[Hal_Al]

Below is a link to the 2018 IRS form 1040. Underneath the line where you son entered his name, is the following line:

Your standard deduction: l_l Someone can claim you as a dependent   l_l You were born before January 2, 1954 l_l You are blind

In order to claim your son as a dependent, and claim the tuition credit, he must have checked the box

"l_l  Someone can claim you as a dependent "  on his tax return. 

If he failed to do so, he can file an amended return (and do so) and that will allow you do claim him and the tuition credit.  You do not need to wait until his amended return is fully processed.

With the tax law change, effective 2018, most students* will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased.

*If  the student's income consist primarily of wages and/or taxable scholarships.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--2018.pdf

[Carl]

My son filed a 1040EZ form for his 2018 taxes.

No, he filed a 1040. Effective with the 2018 taxes the 1040-EZ and 1040-A no longer exist.

Can I still claim him as a dependent for his college expenses in 2018 if I itemized my return?

Weather or not your son filed a tax return, and weather or not you itemize has absolutely nothing to do with you claiming him as your dependent. It also doesn't matter how much he earned either. He could have earned a million dollars (literally!) and still qualify as your dependent.

Take special note of the below. There is *no requirement* for the parent to provide the student any support. Not one single penny. The support requirement is on the student, and only the student. That requirement is:

If the *STUDENT* did *NOT* provide more than half of *THEIR OWN SUPPORT* for the tax year, then the parents qualify to claim the student as a dependent on the parent's tax return.

There are only two possible ways the student can provide more than half of their own support.

 - The student is the *PRIMARY* borrower on a qualified student loan and sufficient funds were distributed to the student during the tax year for the student to provide more than half of their own support.

 - The student had a W-2 job or was self-employed and made enough money during the tax year to have provided more than half of their own support.

Scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, gifts from Aunt Mary, money from mom and dad, etc.  *do* *not* *count* for the student providing their own support.

Additionally, the costs must be realistic. For example, if the student received $80,000 in grants, scholarships and 529 distributions and earned $500,000 in the same tax year, then the overall cost of support (including education expenses) would have to exceed $160,000 for the student to claim they provided more than half of their own support. ($80K from the third party sources, and more than $80K from what the student earned.) Now there is no way on this green earth that "support" for an undergraduate student will exceed $160,000 for a single tax year. Just not gonna happen even if attending Harvard Law School, Yale, or BYU. So even though the student earned enough during the tax year, with $80K in third party support it's not feasible or even realistic that he paid in excess of an additional $80K of his own $500K of earned income to support himself.

• TurboTax Live Self Employed

[Carl]

Weather or not your son filed a tax return, and weather or not you itemize has absolutely nothing to do with you claiming him as your dependent. It also doesn't matter how much he earned either. He could have earned a million dollars (literally!) and still qualify as your dependent.

[Carl]

Take special note of the below. There is *no requirement* for the parent to provide the student any support. Not one single penny. The support requirement is on the student, and only the student. That requirement is:

[Carl]

If the *STUDENT* did *NOT* provide more than half of *THEIR OWN SUPPORT* for the tax year, then the parents qualify to claim the student as a dependent on the parent's tax return.

[Carl]

There are only two possible ways the student can provide more than half of their own support.

[Carl]

 - The student is the *PRIMARY* borrower on a qualified student loan and sufficient funds were distributed to the student during the tax year for the student to provide more than half of their own support.

[Carl]

 - The student had a W-2 job or was self-employed and made enough money during the tax year to have provided more than half of their own support.

[Carl]

Scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, gifts from Aunt Mary, money from mom and dad, etc.  *do* *not* *count* for the student providing their own support.

[Carl]

Additionally, the costs must be realistic. For example, if the student received $80,000 in grants, scholarships and 529 distributions and earned $500,000 in the same tax year, then the overall cost of support (including education expenses) would have to exceed $160,000 for the student to claim they provided more than half of their own support. ($80K from the third party sources, and more than $80K from what the student earned.) Now there is no way on this green earth that "support" for an undergraduate student will exceed $160,000 for a single tax year. Just not gonna happen even if attending Harvard Law School, Yale, or BYU. So even though the student earned enough during the tax year, with $80K in third party support it's not feasible or even realistic that he paid in excess of an additional $80K of his own $500K of earned income to support himself.